Luton Town boss Rob Edwards says the integrity of Premier League officials is beyond reproach, after the Hatters were dragged into Nottingham Forest’s complaints about their treatment by referees.
Luton unwittingly found themselves at the centre of a major controversy last week, as Forest saw three penalty appeals knocked back during a 2-0 loss to Everton at Goodison Park.
Forest, who sit one point clear of Luton as the clubs scrap for survival, then claimed Stuart Attwell – who was on VAR duty for the game – is a Hatters fan.
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The Premier League and the Football Association are both investigating Forest’s statement, which was roundly criticised by both fans and pundits, but the club have refused to back down.
After asking for the VAR audio surrounding the penalty appeals to be released, Forest said officials with ties to a team’s “contextual” rivals in the league table should not be allowed to oversee their games.
Asked about the controversy ahead of Luton’s trip to Wolves on Saturday, Edwards said questioning the integrity of officials is a dangerous game.
“I don’t think anyone can question the integrity of our officials. I don’t know who supports who. Obviously, we’ve been brought into it. I can’t comment any further,” Edwards said.
“I don’t want to be drawn on it too much, I understand why we’re in the mix, we were brought into it. I don’t want to be questioning any of the officials’ integrity.
“They’ve got a difficult job enough. Mistakes can happen and people can be aggrieved, I think we can stick to that.”
The final four starts on Saturday! ✊ pic.twitter.com/tEUiJvWgJh
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) April 25, 2024
Edwards added that all clubs see decisions go against them throughout the course of a season, but he said his focus was simply on maximising his team’s performances.
“I completely understand why people get frustrated and concerned, we’re concerned,” Edwards continued.
“We’ve been frustrated with certain things but in the end we’ve all got to try and control what we can and that’s our own football teams, our own clubs and what we put out there to the world.
“There’s so much scrutiny that goes around with everything that is said. Everything I’ll be saying right now will be as well, so we have to try and be careful with that.”
